Air France Hop Explained

Airline:Air France Hop
Iata:AF
Icao:HOP
Callsign:AIR HOP[1]
Frequent Flyer:Flying Blue
Fleet Size:34
Destinations:50
Parent:Air France
Headquarters:Nantes Atlantique Airport, Bouguenais, France

Air France Hop, formerly branded HOP!,[2] is a French regional airline operating flights on behalf of its parent company Air France. The airline was founded on 21 December 2012[3] after the merger of Airlinair, Brit Air and Régional brands. Its head office is at Nantes Atlantique Airport.[4]

History

The new airline brand was created to better compete with the low-cost airlines which have taken a significant market share of Air France's regional routes. Régional operated with 44 aircraft to 38 destinations; Brit Air had 39 aircraft and served 32 destinations; and Airlinair served 26 destinations with its 24 aircraft; a combined total of 107 aircraft.

In July 2015, Air France–KLM announced the formalization of its merger for 2017 of the Brit Air, Régional and Airlinair brands under the Hop! Brand, after having already legally grouped its structures under the eponymous company, thereby reducing its costs.[5]

In October 2018, it was reported that HOP! would face restructuring measures, including the merger of all operations under the AF flight codes of parent Air France and a revision of the operated aircraft types.[6]

In February 2019, Air France announced that HOP! services would be rebranded as "Air France Hop".[7] The first aircraft received the revised livery - being the one of Air France with small HOP! titles added - in May 2019.[8]

On 1 September 2019, all HOP! flights moved to operate under the Air France brand and flight code. All aircraft will be gradually repainted into the Air France livery.[4] In December 2020, it was announced that HOP! would be restructured as a smaller feeder carrier. This new plan would see HOP! disappearing as a separate brand from Air France, transferring its Paris-Orly hub to Transavia France, and retiring its Bombardier CRJ fleet.[9]

Destinations

See main article: List of Air France destinations.

Codeshare agreements

Air France Hop has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[10]

Fleet

Current fleet

, Air France Hop operates an all-Embraer E-Jet family fleet composed of the following aircraft:[11]

Air France Hop fleet
AircraftIn
service
OrdersPassengersNotes
BETotal
Embraer 17013 - 205676
Embraer 19023 - 2872100
Total34 -

Former fleet

Air France Hop previously operated the following aircraft:[11]

Air France Hop former fleet
AircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredNotes
ATR 42-5001320132019
ATR 72-200220132014
ATR 72-5001020132017
ATR 72-600620152019
Bombardier CRJ100820132018Operated by Brit Air
Bombardier CRJ7001120132021
Bombardier CRJ10001320132022
Embraer ERJ 135220132015
Embraer ERJ 1452120132020

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: List of Airline Codes (H).
  2. "Mentions légales ." HOP! Retrieved on April 27, 2013.
  3. http://www.verif.com/societe/HOP!-790151716/ verif.com
  4. "Legal notice ."
  5. Web site: Air France va fusionner ses filiales régionales sous la bannière Hop !. 16 July 2015.
  6. http://www.airliners.de/les-echos-hop-mutter-air-france/47136 airliners.de - "Les Echos": Hop fliegt nur noch für die Mutter Air France
  7. News: O'Keeffe. Niall. Air France adds own name to Hop unit's branding. Flightglobal.com. 1 February 2019.
  8. https://actu-aero.fr/2019/05/23/disparition-de-hop-le-tour-de-passe-passe-dair-france/ actu-aero.fr
  9. Web site: France's HOP! to become all Embraer operator. 2020-12-11. ch-aviation. en.
  10. Web site: Profile on HOP!. CAPA. Centre for Aviation. 2016-11-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20161103194343/http://centreforaviation.com/profiles/airlines/hop-a5. 2016-11-03. live.
  11. https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Air-France-Hop planespotters.net - Air France Hop